I cannot for the life of me handhold any shot with my D800 or D600 with shutter speed below 1/125 without a lens that has VR. I mean anything below 1/125 l will get crazy blur images. I was experiencing this issue with D800 and I keep blaming it on 36mp. Now that I have my D600 I am seeing it again.

I don't have this issue with my 5DIII. I can easily handhold my 5DIII down to 1/60 without any issues. Is there any reason why my 5DIII is behaving differently.

I took a graduation picture with my D600 yesterday and every shot below 1/125 was blur. I am talking about 70% of the shots. Unfortunately for me the VR on the lens was turned off without me noticing it.

You didn't mention the focal length and that is rather important. I checked the exif: The first and last one are at 85mm and the middle one is 105mm. You shot the blurry one at 1/80 second at 85mm. When I shoot that slow, my probability of blurry shots goes up so I shoot faster. Kind of like what you did with the last one, which is at 1/160 (not 1/60). Shoot faster with respect to your focal length and you will increase your keepers.

Mirror slap maybe. 5d3 mirror seems much better dampened and smoother. That's my experience as well, that there is a difference in what you can handhold without stabilization between the two. I have a d800 and gf has 5d3 which I use sometimes. D800 has some obnoxious mirror slap that rears its head between 1/2 second and 1/60th of a second or so, you might try mirror lockup and see if that makes any difference. *shrug*

Hardcore wrote:
The 5dmkIII shot looks like a studio shot with flash. The other look outdoor where you have balanced the flash with ambient light or completely ambient. Big difference in what will be sharp.

I can shoot flash and a 1 second shutter and not have any blur. When flash lighting all of your subject without any help from ambient, then the shutter speed is essentially the flash duration.

Maybe you can explain more on the setup. What was the focal lenght?

5DIII is not a studio and no flash. It was taken in an entrance of a hotel lobby. iso2500 @f/2.8 1/60.

woos wrote:
Mirror slap maybe. 5d3 mirror seems much better dampened and smoother. That's my experience as well, that there is a difference in what you can handhold without stabilization between the two. I have a d800 and gf has 5d3 which I use sometimes. D800 has some obnoxious mirror slap that rears its head between 1/2 second and 1/60th of a second or so, you might try mirror lockup and see if that makes any difference. *shrug*

That might explain it. It kind of make sense to me now. I mean anything below 1/125 is crazy blur. It is very frustrating.

wellsjt wrote:
You didn't mention the focal length and that is rather important. I checked the exif: The first and last one are at 85mm and the middle one is 105mm. You shot the blurry one at 1/80 second at 85mm. When I shoot that slow, my probability of blurry shots goes up so I shoot faster. Kind of like what you did with the last one, which is at 1/160 (not 1/60). Shoot faster with respect to your focal length and you will increase your keepers.

You right. I looked at it again. The last one was shot at 1/160. Bad example but I have plenty shot at 1/60 with no issue.

Yes, increasing the shutter speed will help, but I find the 1/focal length rule of thumb works quite well, blurry shots are the exception rather than the majority.

How steady can you hold the camera, are you seeing the shake when you look through the viewfinder without VR?
- I wonder if you can work on your hand-holding technique, and find a more stable stance (eg tuck your elbows into your body etc)

scottam10 wrote:
Yes, increasing the shutter speed will help, but I find the 1/focal length rule of thumb works quite well, blurry shots are the exception rather than the majority.

How steady can you hold the camera, are you seeing the shake when you look through the viewfinder without VR?
- I wonder if you can work on your hand-holding technique, and find a more stable stance (eg tuck your elbows into your body etc)

Sorry I can't comment on the Nikon Vs Canon bit, I only own Canon

+1 handholding technique and personal condition (a mug coffee too much, a bit of shiver with cold and so on) play a mayor role. Ergonomics of the camera too (do you shoot with a battery grip?).

georgms wrote:
+1 handholding technique and personal condition (a mug coffee too much, a bit of shiver with cold and so on) play a mayor role. Ergonomics of the camera too (do you shoot with a battery grip?).

I can't even imagine shooting without a battery grip. I have battery grip for both D800 and D600 except 5DIII. 5DIII fits me like a glove. D800 and D600 also fits me perfectly with the grips.